In what is being called the "most deadly mass shooting in U.S. history," 50 people were killed early Sunday morning at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. There were also over 50 people injured in the shooting that occurred around 2am on June 12th. In the wake of the shooting, those in the media are trying to quickly find out the motives of the man behind the shooting, Omar Mateen. Many have reported that he may have had ties to ISIS and was a practicing Muslim. Even if he does have ties to Islamic terror groups, this does not change the fact this shooting is a hate crime.
The club where this occurred, Pulse, is a well-known gay club in Orlando. The month of June is LGBT Pride month. Whether this was an act of terrorism or not, this was a hate crime. Mass shooters do not just pick a random place and decide to shoot it up, there are intentions behind their attacks. Omar Mateen is no different. It does not matter what his religion is because homophobia comes in all shapes and sizes. For him to specifically pick a gay night club, and shoot nearly a third of everyone who was in the club that night is no accident or random coincidence. He was intending to attack the LGBT community that was present at the club that night.
No matter what anyone says, the fight for equal rights did not end when same-sex marriage was approved nationwide. The fight ends when a person who identifies as LGBT can walk safely on the street with their partner and feel equal to the person walking behind them. When events like this happen, it shows that the LGBT community still has a long way until that dream can be achieved. Stopping hate crimes is the next step that has to be taken in the fight for equal rights. But, before that can be done, hate crimes need to start being called hate crimes.
When looking through the articles about this massacre, no major news organization has openly called it a hate crime. The phrase terrorist attack has shown up multiple times, but not even one major news article hints at this attack being a hate crime. This is the heart of the problem. This event was a terrorist attack. A terrorist attack is when an individual commits a violent crime spree against a large body for religious, political or ideological means. But, that does not mean this attack cannot also be a hate crime. A hate crime is a crime influenced by prejudice. This man went into the club to attack the gay men and women inside because of his prejudice against them. Therefore, this should be recognized more publicly as a hate crime.
When we choose to ignore these attacks and label them as something else, we choose to ignore the real victims here: the LGBT community. Those people who identify as part of it are not given the representation they need. Hate crimes still occur throughout the country on a daily basis, though on a smaller scale than this. When we label these crimes as regular shootings, they get brushed off as another act of pointless violence and often go ignored. But when they are properly labeled as a hate crime, there can be more coverage of it to show people that those in the LGBT community need support from allies. They are a minority who has a larger chance of being attacked while in public than their allies because of who they are as people. We can no longer afford to let these attacks be incorrectly labeled.
Pray for Orlando, because this attack will hopefully be the tipping point needed to prevent any other senseless violence. The LGBT community needs support more than ever before. The path ahead is long and difficult, but it needs to be done to help reach the end goal of equal rights. And it starts with acknowledging Orlando as a hate crime.
